Useful articles from collodion and its com



J. A. MoOLELLA MODE 0F ERODUGING USEFUL ARTI E 1-" GOLLODION AND ITS OOMPOU N0. 9 6,132. Patented 001:, 26, 1869.

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Lam- Patent No.96,132, datcd- 0mm "26, 1869.

IIIPROVED MODE OI PRODUCING- U'SEFUB ARTICLES FROM (IOItI-DIDION AND ITS COM- POUNDS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letter! Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may concern.-

. Beit known that I, J OHNA. MOCLELLAND, of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson, and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and improved Process forProducing Usefuland Ornamental Objects of Gollodion-Oompounds; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, audexact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, representing one form ofa press which maybe employed in conducting my improved process.

Figure 2 is a vertical central section, through a die and counter-die, showing a sheet of the compound pressed between them.

- Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures;

The object of this invention is to produce useful and ornamental wares or articles of compounds in which coliodion is a constituent element.

The difficulty hitherto experienced in moulding compounds of collodion and resinous or other like substances, is chiefly caused by the shrinking or diminu tion in bulk, and warping of these compounds during the evaporation from them of the ether or other solvent used to sofien them. For this reason it has not been hitherto practicable to produce casts or impressions with these compounds, which would present a fine finish,'aud retain the sharp outlines required for ornamentation.

To overcome the ditficulties above stated, the nature of my invention consists in subjecting sheets, bars, or pieces of a composition produced by the mixture of collodion with resinous matter to such a degree of heat as will render them sufiiciently soft and plastic to admit of their receiving distinct impressions and shapes, and then pressing them between dies or,moulds,as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand myiuvention, I will describe how to carry it into efiect. I

The compound which I employ is prepared in the form of sheets, strips, or vbars, and may be made by mixing resinous substances, and, if desired, any suitable coloring-matters, with collodion, in any well-known manner, or as described in the schedule annexed to my Letters Patent, numbered 77,304, although-for my present purpose it is not essential to re-treat the compound by pulverizing it and again uniting its par- ;tieles, as described in said Letters Patent.

' The compound may be formed into sheets, or stnps, or bars of any required thickness, as it is expelled while in a plastic state from a mixing-mill, or the sheets, strips, or bars may be formed by spreading the compound, while plastic, upon flat plates or moulds suitably adapted to the purpose.

In an application for Letters Patent of the United States,-hearing even date with this, and marked case A, I have described one form of mill which is adapted for mixing collodion with resinous and other substances. By applyingto the discharge-orifice of such machine .a mould of suitable shape, the compound may be conveniently obtained in sheets, bars of other desired or convenient shape, which are allowedto stand until the. solvent used is expelled from them, when thev are ready for use. e v

I prefer to employ the mill above referred to, because byits use the compound mixed in it is free from globules of air; but I do not confine 'my invention to its use, as articles of an inferior class may be produced of the compound, as prepared under the old processes, while exposed to air.

Hitherto compounds of collodion and resinous substances, which are allowed to harden, have been retreated with ethereal solvents to reduce them to that degree of plasticity which will allow them to be wrought into useful shapes. While these solvents afford a convenient (although expensive) mode for softening the compounds in question, they will alsoswell these compounds so as to render it very difiicult, and sometimes impracticable to produce a useful object of any definite form or size, owing to the shrinking of the mass as the solvents evaporate.

Where it is desired to obtain great strength and toughness in the object 'or objects produced, the proportions of the substances maybe, say, one part of resinous or gumming-matter, to nine parts of soluble fibre, by weight. But where strength is not so much an object as beauty of finish and polish, the proportions of said substances may be reversed.

Instead of using resin 'with the collorion, gums, halsams, nitro-glucose, and other substances, which .will soften by the application of heat, and when allowed tocool will become hard again, may be used in suitable proportions, according to. the nature and requirements of the compound to be produced.

I take a sheet, strip, or bar of a compound prepared as above described, and subject it to heat, varying,- say, from 150 Fahrenheit to 250 Fahrenheit, according to its fusibility, until it is rendered sufficiently pliable or plastic for working.

I then introduce the sheet, strip, or bar, while in this soft condition, between a die and counter-die, or between a die and a fiat surface, and by the applica- .tion of more or less pressure, as may be required, I produce upon or in the sheet, bar, or strip, the'same "impression or configuration as'I have upon the die or matrix, and this impression will retain the shape and sharpness .of outline which-it received.

The pressure will not only compel the compound to fill up every space in the matrix or die perfectly, but it will condense the compound, and render it harder and more durable than it otherwise would be To facilitate the production of useful and ornan'ient-al objects from the sheets, strips, or bars,I have represented in the accompanyin g drawings a machine whichrpay be employed to advantage for stamping impressions very rapidly. v

A A are two upright standards, rising perpendicularly from a bed or base, B, and carry-ing Hear their upper ends, a horizontal shaft, H, upon whichfisfasterred aneccentric, HQ Tim shaft 'Hnray receive a 'continuousrotary motion from any convenient power by means of a beltpassin'g around a drum. J. I I 1 Ole a vvriiml rod, which is guided in its up-anddown movements by crossbar-S 0 G, and which is forced. up against the perimeter of the eccentric H by a spring, f, arranged between the bars 0 G.

0n the lower end of the rod 0, a stamp or die, 0, is

suitably fixed, and directly beneath it is a counter-die, D,..which is fixedto blockl) on the bediB.

When shaft H is rotated, the rod with its'dic 0, receives ,vertical motion, and if the parts are properly adjusted, with reference to the thickness of the sheet or strip S of the compound, impressions corresponding to those on the die and counter-die may be made in this sheet-or strip by feeding beneath the die a.

In this way a variety of useful and ornamental wares or articles, possessing strength and beauty offinish and polish may be produced with great facility, such, for instance, as various kinds of articles of jewelry, such as breastepins, rings, studs, buttons, beads, bracelets,

v charms, 850., piano-keys, port-emonnaie-sides, clock and Witnesses:

Y JULIUS Hmsonr,

E. W. ANDERSON. 

